It was a solid opening, but the New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. production came in about $6 million shy of its projected take going into the weekend, according to numbers indicated by prerelease audience surveys.

The original “Hobbit” opened almost a year ago to the day and enjoyed an $84.6-million weekend, making it the best December opening ever. It went on to earn $1 billion worldwide.

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Movie theaters breathed fire this weekend as “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” struck box-office gold. The Peter Jackson-directed sequel to last year’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected journey,” raked in a studio-estimated $73.7 million.
It was a solid...